Music teacher gives song and joy to South African children

Wednesday

Jul 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2008 at 4:10 PM

Last month, Plymouth's Federal Furnace Elementary School Music Director Kathleen McMinn spent three weeks in South Africa as a volunteer for the Music for Life program, dedicated to bringing music and joy into these children’s lives.

Emily Wilcox

They’re orphans, refugees, or so destitute they have no shoes.

AIDS is so widespread, children raise other children, as 7- or 8-year-olds are found caring for their younger siblings.

If someone has something they need, it is considered fine to take it if the person isn’t using it. They respect their elders and promises aren’t lightly given. If you say you’re going to do something, you are expected to deliver; otherwise don’t promise it, don’t even say, “I’ll try.”

They live in the shadow of death, poverty and violence in a land as beautiful as it is unforgiving.

But these children embrace joy, dance and song.

Music is a staple, like food or water in the Nkomanzi region of South Africa.

Last month, Federal Furnace Elementary School Music Director Kathleen McMinn spent three weeks there as a volunteer for the Music for Life program, dedicated to bringing music and joy into these children’s lives.

It was a life-changing experience for McMinn who came to adore these children.

Music for Life is a non-profit group that enlists underprivileged, poverty-stricken children for its African Children’s Choir, which tours around the world.

These choirs have performed on national TV shows and demonstrate what a little kindness can do in the lives of children who so desperately need it.

But performance is only part of Music for Life’s mission, which is to nurture and guide these children into a happy, healthy adulthood.

McMinn was so profoundly moved by her three-weeks in South Africa that she is hoping she’ll be able to continue that mission. She said the children and people of Nkomanzi were beyond amazing in their kindness and ability to give and receive love.

“There is a spirit of ‘umbuntu,’ which is a concept that is difficult for Westerners to understand,” McMinn said about the Nkomanzi culture. “It is a sense of taking care of each other, sharing that which is yours with others, of concern and kindness for all of humanity. In a society in which children have nothing, simple things are appreciated. Children light up when you smile at them. They love being touched – a handshake, a pat on the back or a hug. When you pick up a child and hold them in your arms, they settle in close and receive that hug with a craving that is insatiable.”

McMinn played guitar, taught singing and dance, and worked 12-hour days doing whatever she could for these children who live in mud huts with no electricity, running water or sewage. The school where McMinn worked had these amenitites, but just barely. Broken windows remain broken since there’s no money or hardware store around the corner.

The fees Music for Life participants pay to participate help feed, nurture and educate the children. McMinn paid for her flight and the opportunity to participate. She said what she got in return was priceless.

“Music and dance are at the core of their culture,” she said. “It was amazing, because we don’t really have it that way. It’s not a core subject area; it’s a fluff course or an extra. Here I was in the middle of nowhere, where people have nothing, but they have music and dance. As a musician, it was like being in heaven.”

She and her fellow Music for Life volunteers gave assemblies every day for four days, delivered food parcels to the most destitute families, taught music, dance, sports and arts and crafts and held many orphaned babies.

The children are so in need of love and kindness, McMinn said a hug given to one becomes a hug-fest as children crowd around the loving adult for their turn. Some took more than one.

“Since music and dance are at the core of everyday life, everybody, youngest to oldest, dance and sing any chance they get,” McMinn added. “As a result, I discovered that African children sing beautifully, on pitch, with a tone that is different from children in the States. They sing more in their head voice and their projection is incredible. It was difficult to find a child who could not sing in tune.”

They danced with abandon, too, without judging each other and with a sense of joy and celebration, McMinn said.

While there isn’t space to chronicle all of McMinn’s observations and experiences in Nkomanzi, she has penned a 14-page diary of her trip, which she plans to post on a blog or other venue.

Meanwhile, she made such an impression on Music for Life and the people of Nkomanzi she has been asked to assemble a choir of 25 Plymouth children to take back with her to South Africa. McMinn isn’t sure how she’ll manage that, but she also never expected to visit Nkomanzi, Africa, where she longs to return.

Of the children of Nkomanzi, she had one thing to say.
“I fell in love with them.”